Hays County commissioners have named Mike M. Mendoza as the county’s veteran services officer. Mendoza had been acting director of the department since January.

“I’m pleased to continue serving our residents and reaching out to veterans and their dependents throughout the county to ensure they’re aware of the federal, state and local programs that are part of their entitlement for serving,” Mendoza said. “Our office provides transportation to the Audie Murphy Veterans Hospital in San Antonio, and assistant (veterans services officer) Aggie Lopez and I are available to discuss employment, job training, education, housing, medical and the myriad other programs available for veterans. We can help fill out paperwork for all those programs and more, such as replacing lost official documents and medals.”

Mendoza is a native of Hays County and a graduate of San Marcos High School. He attended Texas State, among other colleges.

In more than 10 years on active duty as a non-commissioned officer, Mendoza gained experience in working with several programs designed to help military personnel and their dependents. After leaving the military, he worked for the Texas Veterans Commission as a counselor in Austin and several other offices in Texas. He has been responsible for training veterans services officers statewide.

Most recently, Mendoza was a supervisor at the Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center in San Antonio.

With a population of less than 200,000, Hays County is not required by law to provide a Veteran Services Office, but it has done so for many years.